Walter Lohmann

Walter Lohmann (born 30 December 1878 in Bremen; died 29 April 1930 in Rome) was a German Reichsmarine officer with the rank of captain.^[1] Lohmann ran a secret rearmament and research program on behalf of the Weimar Ministry of Defense in an attempt to circumvent the Versailles restrictions. When it was discovered in 1927, the event became known as the Lohmann affair in Germany and led to the resignation of Reichswehr Minister Otto Gessler in January 1928.^[2]

Life edit

Lohmann was the youngest son of Johann Georg Lohmann (1830–1892), who was a director of the German shipping company Norddeutscher Lloyd and Clarissa Lohmann, née Frost (1838–1920), an English woman.^[3] His older brother was Alfred Lohmann (born 1870), who was president of the Bremen Chamber of Commerce.

Career edit

After attending school, Lohmann joined the Imperial Navy as a naval cadet on 7 April 1897. After his officer training he was deployed to the Far East: first in 1903 to the gunboat SMS Tiger, and then from 1910 as company commander in the German colony of Tsingtau. With the outbreak of World War I, he was appointed to the rank of Korvettenkapitän I artillery officer aboard the grand liner Prinzregent Luitpold where he worked as a non-combat logistics officer.^[4] In March 1918, he was transferred to the Imperial Naval Office (Reichsmarineamt), where he worked in the Sea Transport Department from December 1918.^[5]

As a representative of the Sea Transport Department in the General Naval Office, Lohmann took part in the maritime armistice negotiations in 1919 in England.^[6] He was still in England when the Kapp Putsch occurred on 13 March 1920, so his career was not compromised. When he returned he was appointed head of the Sea Transport Department (BS) on 28 October 1920. He was also on very good terms with Chief of Naval Headquarters, Admiral Paul Behncke and this further consolidated his position, receiving significant promotion of himself and the field of work.^[6] At the time Behncke required an overview of the merchant marine as he believed it still had a role even under the Treaty of Versailles.^[7] Behncke sent Lohnmann to the Ministry for Reconstruction on 21 December 1920 with a request that he attend all meetings where commercial shipping was discussed.^[6]

At the same time the Occupation of the Ruhr beginning in 11 January 1923, which failed to dent Lohmann's career.^[8] The Reichsbank provided 100 million gold deutsche marks to the Reichswehr for the possible escalation of hostilities, which never occurred. At the end of the occupation, the monies were returned, instead what remained was shared amongst the services. The Reichsmarine's share, amountting to 10 million marks, was assigned to Lohmann to administer.^[8] In early 1923, as he was fully trusted by Behncke, Lohmann was given access to the clandestine funds that the Reichsmarine was using to rearm.^[8]^[9]

Lohmann's position involved executing procedures for the repatriation of German warships and the repatriation of German prisoners of war. His access to naval offices in Königsberg, Lübeck, Stettin, Hamburg, and Bremen gave him access to very specialized information and financial resources. He used this knowledge in his work in a way that was far beyond his authority and technical competence. Favoured by the interests of Behncke, it led to uncontrolled scope for legal violations, criminal activity and high-handed action by individuals developed within the Maritime Transport Department, over the next three years.^{[citation needed]}

Death edit

During a business trip to Italy, Lohmann died of a heart attack in Rome on 29 April 1930, at the age of 52.^[10]

Archives edit

"Newspaper articles about Walter Lohmann". Hamburg World Economic Archive (in German). Hamburg: Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft (ZBW). Retrieved 18 September 2023.

Citations edit

References edit

^ "Otto Geßler 1875-1955" (in German). Deutsches Historisches Museum. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
^ Bird 1977, p. 180.
^ Remmele 1997.
^ Belote 1993, p. 1.
^ Stoelzel 1930, p. 166.
^ ^a ^b ^c Remmele 1997, p. 316.
^ Hillman 2013, p. 138.
^ ^a ^b ^c Remmele 1997, p. 317.
^ Belote 1993, p. A21.
^ "Kapitän Lohmann gestorben : Der Stinnes des Reichswehrministeriums" (in German). Berlin: Social Democratic Party of Germany. Vorwärts. 2 May 1930. Retrieved 20 October 2023.

Bibliography edit

Bird, Keith W. (1977). Weimar, the German Naval Officer Corps and the Rise of National Socialism. Amsterdam: Grüner. ISBN 978-90-6032-094-5.
Remmele, Bernd (1 December 1997). "Die maritime Geheimrüstung unter Kapitän z.S. Lohmann". Militaergeschichtliche Zeitschrift. 56 (2): 313–376. doi:10.1524/mgzs.1997.56.2.313.
Belote, James H. (22 December 1993). "The Lohmann Affair" (PDF). Centre for the study of intelligence. CIA. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
Hillman, Jörg (24 May 2013). "Slipping into the war: German Naval Strategy between 1920 and 1940". In Clemmesen, Micheal H.; Faulkner, Marcus S. (eds.). Northern European Overture to War, 1939-1941: From Memel to Barbarossa. Leiden: BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-24909-7.
Schneller, Ernest (1928). Phoebus-Skandal : Korruption und Geheimrüstungen (PDF) (in German). Berlin: Internationaler Arbeiter-Verlag. OCLC 831153357.
Stoelzel, Albert (1930). Ehrenrangliste der Kaiserlich Deutschen Marine, 1914-1918 (in German). Berlin: Marine Offizier Verband. p. 166.